Orthopedic pillow having improved incremental compressive resistance for improved cervical support

ABSTRACT

An orthopedic pillow is a monolithic foam structure. Spaced apart depressed top and bottom surfaces are continuous with, and are extensive between the side surfaces. The top and bottom surfaces are each formed as a plurality of side-by-side longitudinal ribs parallel with the long side surfaces. Each one of the ribs protrudes outwardly from the apparatus and is a major portion of a semi-circle in shape. The physical conformation of the apparatus is such, that with the long side surfaces resting on a mattress, the tips of the ribs are initially spaced apart from the mattress, and with a head&#39;s weight resting on the top surface, the ribs of the top surface are compressed, and the ribs of the bottom surface are urged toward the mattress providing compressive resistance proportional to the compressive force.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

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REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX”

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Present Disclosure

This disclosure relates generally to pillows and more specifically to apillow capable of automatically accommodating persons of varying weightand head-neck conformation for improved cervical spine positioningduring sleep.

2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37CFR 1.97 and 1.98

Ku, U.S. 2005/0091748, discloses a pillow that is formed of a memorymember, an adjustment member, and a support member. The memory member ismade of an artificial sponge having a memory. The adjustment member isprovided with a plurality of air sacs which are inflatable anddeflatable. The adjustment member is fitted into a hollow interior ofthe memory member. The support member is also made of an artificialsponge and is fitted into a hollow interior of the adjustment member.

Murphy, U.S. Des 293755, discloses an ornamental design for a cover fora cervical pillow.

Vinsant, Jr., U.S. Des 320523, discloses an ornamental design for a bodysupport for use as a nighttime cervical support or a daytimelumbo-sacral support, as shown and described.

Ward et al., U.S. Des 339020, discloses an ornamental design for apillow.

Bonaddio et al., U.S. Des 374146, discloses an ornamental design for atwo-piece interlocking pillow unit.

Jung, U.S. Des 390405, discloses an ornamental design for a travelpillow.

Frydman, U.S. Des 394977, discloses an ornamental design for improvedorthopedic pillow.

Parnham, U.S. Des 48677, discloses an ornamental design for a thighcushion.

Etal, U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,812, discloses a pillow that is comprised of aunitary elongated rectangular body formed of a synthetic foamed plastichaving upper and lower longitudinal faces, a recess formed centrally ineach of the faces of the body and extending longitudinally thereof fromone end to the other, a plurality of apertures formed to extend throughthe body to communicate the recesses one with the other and spacedlengthwise of the recesses, and an outer covering of a freely porousmaterial enclosing the body and lying taut across the recesses to formtherewith enclosed air channels extending longitudinally of each face ofthe pillow.

Burkhardt, U.S. Pat. No. 1,821,355, discloses an orthopedic cervicalpillow which has a substantially flat undersurface and an upper surfacecontoured to form a back engaging portion transitioning into a convexneck engaging portion further transitioning into a head engagingportion. Self-adjusting lift of the back and neck engaging portions isaccomplished by means of a relieved section in the undersurface of thepillow generally beneath the head engaging portion. The relieved sectionextends entirely across the width of the pillow and extends from aforward most point underneath the neck engaging portion to approximatelyhalfway under the head engaging portion wherein the contour of therelieved section assumes a substantially vertical contour at itsrearmost portion.

Rothbard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,405, discloses an orthopedic pillowproviding support for the head and neck of the user. The neck issupported by either of two cylindrical neck bolsters. Either of twoconvoluted surfaces comprising matrices of pyramid shaped nodes areutilized to give support to and cushion the head.

Dixon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,194, discloses a cervical pillow that has amulti-component polyurethane foam construction with an upper portion,intermediate portion and foundation portion. The upper portion includesa convoluted support surface preferably having multi-density upwardlyextending protrusions and is laminated to the intermediate portion. Theintermediate portion is configured having two generally perpendicularchannel depressions of equal depth for supporting and stabilizing thehead and neck in an anatomically neutral position, the upper portionconforming to the channels and communicating the channel contour to thesupport surface. Local support adjustment along one channel isfacilitated by a cut-out in the intermediate portion which houses aremovable insert. The foundation portion includes a removable base toprovide adjustable vertical height of the support surface to adapt to awide range of users. In an alternative embodiment, the foundationportion also includes a removable middle section positionable between anupper section and the base to provide additional vertical supportadjustment. The middle portion can be flat or wedge shaped to provideinclination of the support surface when desired. Another alternativeembodiment includes a removable cover which encloses the cervical pillowand includes an external pocket positioned over a portion of a channelcapable of housing a supplemental member such as a thermal pack whichcan be used for therapeutic purposes.

Torbik, U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,998, discloses a pillow that provides propercervical support whether the sleeper is on his back or on his side. Sidesections including cutouts on the left and right of the pillow provideclearance for the airways during side sleeping, and a multi-levelconstruction provides the proper head and neck support for either backor side sleeping positions. A high quality fiber is used in rolled andlayered sections to provide comfort for the sleeper and resiliency ofthe pillow over prolonged use. Dual neck rolls of different diametersallow two sleepers of different neck sizes to alternately use the samepillow.

Jung, U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,177, discloses an adjustable travel pillowunit that has a pillow outer shell, a support frame within the shell andan adjustment mechanism. The mechanism allows an arm to extend orretract in alignment with a plane and is movable itself in alignmentwith a plane perpendicular to the first mentioned plane.

Alexander, U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,347, discloses a use of particulatestuffings such as down or fiberfill in the construction of orthopedicpillows that has previously been limited due to formidable intrinsicdifficulties. On a curved wedge of support, with natural turningmovement of the sleeper, fiberfill will tend to “avalanche” downhill,settle and pack down to obliterate any initial toricity or inflectedcurvature. Hence the sleeper is awakened to refluff or to punch themissing inflection back into place. Though simple internal partitioningcan initially delay the scenario, in due course nuisance fibersequestering and impeded normal hand refluffing are the results. Thepresent invention focuses on structurally overcoming these impedimentsto the orthopedic use of particulate fillings. It notably provides apillow that manifests to the sleeper as downy soft, and comfortinglyrestful. Yet, internally built-in are the specific elements andmechanisms for ‘stealth support’: A forward-reaching fiberfill overlayis carefully partitioned and co-proportioned in loft and fibre densitywith its underlying supporting core, to provide the inflected toricgradient of support for the sleeper. The calibrated loft of the overlay,in combination with the use of minimal stable core thickness, extensivedifferential slotting and feathering of the core surface, in addition tolateral fiber ‘muffs’, all work in tandem for the necessarydissimulation of the core, its interfaces, and the very presence ofsummated orthopedic support itself. Within the overlay, angled splitpartitions vaulting a retrusion chamber, force the necessary supportinflection into reliable existence. Furthermore, the uniquelysubstructured split partitions combine stretch and non-stretch fabricportions so that, with natural turning of the sleeper, they descend andrecoil to lift and recirculate fibre spheres within pillow chambers. Ineffect, the pillow unit refluffs ‘automatically’, as you sleep, torefresh plumpness for undisturbed sleep throughout the night. Inmanufacture, the supporting core is inflatable to accommodate lower backsufferers, and further serves in Traveler Edition and Sleeping Bagapplications.

Huang, U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,534, discloses a support pillow that includesa U-shaped body skin that defines a U-shaped inner space therein, and afiller that is packed in the inner space and that cooperates with thebody skin to form a flexible U-shaped body including a bight part andtwo opposite arm parts extending and angled away from two opposite endsof the bight part to define a recess there among.

Kruger, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,682, discloses a pillow that comprisesfour substantially identical fabric sections arranged in registry andsecured together around the peripheries thereof. A line of stitchingconnects the middle two layers, defining a rectangular portion or otherconfiguration, in the center of the pillow. The pillow is filled betweenthe middle two layers from the line of stitching to the peripheral edgesof the fabric sections. Filling is also present between the upper fabricsection and one of the middle fabric sections, and between the lowerfabric layers and the other middle fabric section, resulting in a pillowwhich has less fill in the center portion thereof.

Hsu, U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,512, discloses a combination pressure releaseergonomic pillow comprised of a body of the pillow having its topsurface in a curve complying with ergonomic requirements of the humanhead and neck, a channel on one side or multiple channels on both sides,a slot at bottom of the body of the pillow, and insert(s) to be insertedinto the channel(s); and a support inserted into the slot to support theback of head of the user; the insert being retractable to adjust theheight of the pillow body to define optimal pressure release curveaccording to the individual user to protect the cervical vertebrae ofthe user.

The related art described above discloses pillows with opposing bolsterportions running laterally and depressed center portions, asparticularly shown in Rothbard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,405. The related artalso discloses the use of longitudinal ribs within the depressed centerportions, as particularly shown in Hsu, U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,512.Finally, the prior art also discloses that it is known to form suchpillows with top to bottom symmetry so that either side of the pillowmay be used identically.

However, it will be shown that the present invention, althoughincorporating the well known features of: opposing bolster portions,central depressed longitudinal ribs and top to bottom symmetry, providesan improved conformation that provides benefits unknown in the priorart.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure teaches certain benefits in construction and use whichgive rise to the objectives described below.

Pillows tend to be problematic. One person may find a given pillow toohard while another person may find the same pillow too soft. During thehours of sleep, pillows tend to compress under the weight of the head sothat over time the cervical spine may assume an uncomfortable andpossibly physically harmful curvature. Pillows that are too hard tend tohold the head in an undesirable upright attitude, while those that aretoo soft allow the head to assume an undesirable bent-over or bent backattitude. Furthermore, if a pillow is found that is orthopedicallysuitable for one person, it will most often be unsuitable for anotherperson. When a pillow is suitable for an adult, it is usually notsuitable for a child. Yet, it would be most desirable to provide apillow that automatically adjusts to the needs of those that use itno-matter the length of the neck or weight of the head within the normalrange of human anatomy. The presently described apparatus isorthopedically suitable for a wide range of different body types andweights and will be found by most persons to be quite comfortable. Thispillow is a monolithic foam structure of a resilience suitable forsupporting the head where the weight of the head is between about 3.5pounds and 12 pounds. It has a pair of spaced apart long side surfacesand a pair of spaced apart short side surfaces forming a generallyrectangular shape. Spaced apart top and bottom recessed surfaces abutand are extensive between the side surfaces, and are each formed as aplurality of side-by-side ribs positioned in parallel with the long sidesurfaces. Each one of the ribs protrudes outwardly and is semicircularin cross-sectional shape. The physical conformation of the apparatus issuch, that with the long side surfaces resting on a generally planarsurface such as a mattress and with no weight on the top surface, theribs of the bottom surface are spaced apart from the planar surface; andwith weight (a person's head) resting on the top surface, the ribs ofthe top surface are compressed, and the pillow deforms over all so thatthe ribs of the bottom surface are urged toward the planar surface andwith enough weight pressing downwardly on the top surface, the ribs ofthe bottom surface move into contact with the mattress and are deformedas well. Because the ribs extend downwardly away from the bottomsurface, initial contact between the bottom ribs and mattressexperiences relatively little resistance, allowing the pillow tocompress against the mattress as the top surface is compressed under theweight of the head. When the head presses downward further, eachincrementally added amount of weight causes a greater surface area ofthe bottom ribs to be compressed thereby increasing the amount ofresistance to compression. Because the force of compressive resistanceproportionally increases with compressive force the total compression ofthe pillow (the amount of drop of the surface in contact with the head)tends to be within an acceptable range for most persons.

A primary objective inherent in the above described apparatus and methodof use is to provide advantages not taught by the prior art.

Another objective is to provide a pillow that is comfortable for mostpersons including children and adults.

A further objective is to provide such a pillow with cervical bolters toprovide adequate support to the neck area.

A further objective is to provide such a pillow with depressed centralportions that have ribs so that air is able to circulate between thepillow surface and the head for improved cooling whilst asleep.

A further objective is to provide such a pillow with semi-circularshaped ribs of a size and shape that deform appropriately to preventoverextension of the neck for most individuals.

A further objective is to provide such a pillow that is symmetrical topto bottom so that it is impossible to turn the pillow onto aninappropriate attitude where its advantages are not functional.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following more detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way ofexample, the principles of the presently described apparatus and methodof its use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Illustrated in the accompanying drawing(s) is at least one of the bestmode embodiments of the present invention In such drawing(s):

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the presently described apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view, the bottom plan view being a mirror imagethereof;

FIG. 3 is a left side view, the right side view being a mirror imagethereof;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view, the rear elevational view being amirror image thereof; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are side views thereof showing the apparatus in use with aheavier head in FIG. 5 and with a lighter head in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The above described drawing figures illustrate the described apparatusand its method of use in at least one of its preferred, best modeembodiment, which is further defined in detail in the followingdescription. Those having ordinary skill in the art may be able to makealterations and modifications to what is described herein withoutdeparting from its spirit and scope. Therefore, it must be understoodthat what is illustrated is set forth only for the purposes of exampleand that it should not be taken as a limitation in the scope of thepresent apparatus and method of use.

The presently described apparatus is a pillow for supporting a person'sneck and head when resting on an essentially planar surface 5 such as amattress. The apparatus is constructed as a monolithic, one-piece foamstructure, preferably polyurethane foam, having a pair of spaced apart,circularly shaped, longitudinal surfaces 10 (bolsters) and a pair ofspaced apart, planar, lateral surfaces 20, together forming a generallyrectangular shape, as shown in FIG. 2 in plan view.

The apparatus has identical top and bottom recessed surfaces 30, eachextensive between the side surfaces 10 and 20. A plurality ofside-by-side identical longitudinal ribs 32 of near semi-circular shape,see FIG. 3, are extensive between the lateral surfaces 20, i.e., theyextend longitudinally across the entire apparatus and they mutuallyabruptly abut each other, that is to say the side 34 of each rib 32 isjoined directly with the side 34 of ribs 32 to both its left and itsright, with no radius or other feature between them. This structure hasbeen found to be critical is forming the rib confirmation that bestachieves the results of incrementally increasing resistance tocompression as will be further explained below.

The physical conformation, size, bulk and material resilience of theapparatus is such, that with the apparatus resting on the planar surface5 with no extrinsic weight resting thereupon, the ribs 32 of the bottomsurface 30 are spaced apart from the planar surface 5, as best shown inFIG. 3, and with an extrinsic weight resting on the top surface 30, theribs 32 of the bottom surface 30 are urged into contact with the planarsurface 5, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The ribs 32 are of suchconformation that incremental compressive resistance of the bottom ribs32 increases faster than the incremental compression of the bottom ribs32, so that a range of extrinsic weights are supportable over adiminished range of compression, thereby facilitating the proper supportof the cervix of different individuals having a range of head weights.The downward force on a pillow, in general, from the human head rangesbetween about 3 pounds for a small child to about 12 pounds for an adultmale. This is a significant range of weights and normally results inconsiderable compression of the pillow by heavier weights and relativelylittle compression by lighter weights. In order to find utilization of apillow that may be used for a wide range of weights without excessivecompression, the pillow must provide incrementally more support(resistance to compression) to heavier weights and such support mustincrease faster than the incremental increase of the weight in order toassure that compression is within a relatively narrow range over thedesigned weight range of the pillow. This has been found to be bestachieved when the ribs are near semi-circles, i.e., approximately 90% ofa semi-circle, and when the total vertical height of the ribs 30 on topand bottom is approximately 13% of the total height. Best results havebeen found when the ribs 30 are each approximately ⅞ inches wide and thelateral distance of all the ribs 30 is approximately 5 inches with thebolsters being 4½ inches laterally each. The initial vertical drop ofthe top surface 30 is about ⅝ inches whereupon the bottom ribs 30contact the surface 5 and start to compress. This initial drop providesa comfortable curvature to the cervix with the neck surface supported bythe bolters. Further drop of the top surface 30 depends on thecompression of the bottom ribs 32, which, as discussed, provide aprogressive resistance with incremental compression so that both lightand heavy weights cause further drop within only a narrow range andtherefore prevent the cervix from overextending.

As shown in the figures, the apparatus is a one piece foam structurewith left to right symmetry, top to bottom symmetry and front to backsymmetry. This has the advantage of enabling use of the pillow where thehead may be placed from both longitudinal directions and on either sidewith the same result.

The enablements described in detail above are considered novel over theprior art of record and are considered critical to the operation of atleast one aspect of the apparatus and its method of use and to theachievement of the above described objectives. The words used in thisspecification to describe the instant embodiments are to be understoodnot only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to includeby special definition in this specification: structure, material or actsbeyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings. Thus if an elementcan be understood in the context of this specification as including morethan one meaning, then its use must be understood as being generic toall possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word orwords describing the element.

The definitions of the words or drawing elements described herein aremeant to include not only the combination of elements which areliterally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts forperforming substantially the same function in substantially the same wayto obtain substantially the same result. In this sense it is thereforecontemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements maybe made for any one of the elements described and its variousembodiments or that a single element may be substituted for two or moreelements in a claim.

Changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person withordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expresslycontemplated as being equivalents within the scope intended and itsvarious embodiments. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later knownto one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scopeof the defined elements. This disclosure is thus meant to be understoodto include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what isconceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted, and alsowhat incorporates the essential ideas.

The scope of this description is to be interpreted only in conjunctionwith the appended claims and it is made clear, here, that each namedinventor believes that the claimed subject matter is what is intended tobe patented.

1. A pillow apparatus for supporting a person's neck and head andresting on an essentially planar surface of a mattress, the apparatuscomprising: a one-piece foam structure having a pair of spaced apart,circularly shaped, longitudinal surfaces and a pair of spaced apart,planar, lateral surfaces; top and bottom recessed surfaces, each: a)extensive between the side surfaces, and b) providing a plurality ofside-by-side identical longitudinal ribs, near semi-circular in shapeand extensive between the lateral surfaces, the ribs mutually abuttingabruptly; the physical conformation, size, bulk and material resilienceof the apparatus such, that with the apparatus resting on the planarsurface with no extrinsic weight resting thereupon, the ribs of thebottom surface are spaced apart from the planar surface, and with anextrinsic weight resting on the top surface, the ribs of the bottomsurface are urged into contact with the planar surface, the ribs of suchconformation that incremental compressive resistance of the ribsincreases faster than incremental compression of the bottom ribs,whereby a range of extrinsic weights are supportable over a diminishedrange of compression.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thelongitudinal surfaces conform to portions of a circle having such sizeas to support a cervical area of the neck when the head is supported bythe top surface.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one piece foamstructure has left to right symmetry, top to bottom symmetry and frontto back symmetry.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the ribs areapproximately 90% of a semi-circle.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinthe total vertical height of the ribs on the top and bottom surfaces isapproximately 13% of the total height of the pillow across the ribs. 6.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of the ribs is approximately ⅞inches wide.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the lateral distance ofall the ribs 30 on each of the top and the bottom surfaces isapproximately 5 inches.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the lateraldistance of each of the longitudinal surfaces is approximately 4½inches.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus is of suchresilience that the initial vertical drop due to an extrinsic weightplaced on the top surface is about ⅝ inches before the bottom ribscontact the planar surface.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thestructure of the apparatus is such as to provide a progressiveresistance to compression.